X-Men hockey ranked No. 4 as AUS playoffs continue

CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 (#18)
Top-ranked V-Reds drop AUS final opener

OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds top the CIS men's hockey rankings for the fifth straight week but are now one loss away from going into the University Cup national championship as the second-best team from their conference.

The V-Reds (23-3-2 regular season / 3-1 playoffs), who received all 16 first-place votes and 160 points from the media panel for the second week in a row, lost 3-2 on home ice to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men Monday night in Game 1 of the best-of-three AUS final. 

Rounding out the 18^th Top 10 poll of the season are the second-ranked UQTR Patriotes (24-3-1 / 6-0 / 137 points / no change), No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (22-6-0 / 4-0 / 135 / no change), No. 4 StFX (18-6-4 / 4-1 / 105 / up one position), No. 5 Alberta Golden Bears (19-7-2 / 2-2 / 94 / down one), No. 6 Western Mustangs (18-10-0 / 6-2 / 70 / up two), No. 7 Carleton Ravens (20-7-1 / 4-2 / 65 / down one), No. 8 Saint Mary's Huskies (17-8-3 / 3-3 / 55 / down one), No. 9 Guelph Gryphons (16-11-1 / 5-4 / 38 / no change) and No. 10 McGill Redmen (19-7-2 / 2-2 / 10 / no change).      

With only three playoff series left before the University Cup tournament, seven of eight teams have now qualify for the national competition set for March 17-20 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, including UNB, UQTR, Saskatchewan, StFX, Alberta, Western and host Saint Mary's.

Carleton and Guelph will battle for the last remaining berth Saturday at 7 p.m. in the nation's capital when they face off in the OUA bronze-medal game, live on OUA.tv.  

Also Saturday at 7 p.m. (OUA.tv.), UQTR visits Western in the single-game OUA Queen's Cup final, with better seeding for the CIS tourney on the line.

In the AUS, Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series is set for Wednesday at StFX, while Game 3, if necessary, is scheduled for Friday at UNB. Puck drop for both contests is at 7 p.m. AST, live on AUStv.ca.

Results from the past week included a Saskatchewan sweep against Alberta in the best-of-three Canada West final (4-0, 3-2); a UQTR sweep over Carleton in the best-of-three OUA East final (4-1, 6-3); Western taking care of Guelph in three games in the OUA West final (2-1, 1-3, 5-1); StFX finishing off Saint Mary's with a 4-3 win in Game 4 of their AUS semifinal.

A complete schedule for the last two weeks of the 2015-16 CIS men's hockey season is included below. 

NOTE: Voting for this week's Top 10 closed on Monday before the start of Game 1 of the AUS final (StFX 3, UNB 2). In order to avoid confusion however, StFX and UNB's playoff records include that result from Monday night.

CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#18)

Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1^st place vote worth 10 points. The CIS Men's Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee is made up of media members from across Canada.

(regular season / playoff records) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. UNB (23-3-2 / 3-1) / 160 points (16) / (1)
2. UQTR (24-3-1 / 6-0) / 137 / (2)
3. Saskatchewan (22-6-0 / 4-0) / 135 / (3)
4. StFX (18-6-4 / 4-1) / 105 / (5)
5. Alberta (19-7-2 / 2-2) / 94 / (4)
6. Western (18-10-0 / 6-2) / 70 / (8)
7. Carleton (20-7-1 / 4-2) / 65 / (6)
8. Saint Mary's (17-8-3 / 3-3) / 55 / (7)
9. Guelph (16-11-1 / 5-4) / 38 / (9)
10. McGill (21-6-1 / 2-2) / 10 / (10) 

Other teams receiving votes: UPEI (5), Acadia (4), Mount Royal (2).

MARCH 9-20 SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES LOCAL)

Wednesday, March 9 (AUStv.ca)
19:00 UNB at StFX (Game 2 AUS final)

Friday, March 11 (AUStv.ca)
19:00 UNB at StFX (Game 3 AUS final – if necessary) 

Saturday, March 12 (OUA.tv)
19:00 Guelph at Carleton (OUA bronze)
19:00 UQTR at Western (OUA final) 

UNIVERSITY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP (CIS-SIC.tv)

Thursday, March 17
16:00 Quarter-final 1 (Eastlink)
20:00 Quarter-final 2 (Eastlink) 

Friday, March 18
16:00 Quarter-final 3 (Eastlink)
20:00 Quarter-final 4 (Eastlink) 

Saturday, March 19
12:00 Semi-final 1 (Sportsnet 360 & TVA Sports)
16:00 Semi-final 2 (Sportsnet 360 & TVA Sports) 

Sunday, March 20
14:00 Bronze (Eastlink)
18:30 Final (Sportsnet 360 & TVA Sports 2)